Prevalence and Presentation of Paediatric Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among children (≤18 years) evaluated for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection at a testing centre in Lagos, Nigeria. Methodology. This was a retrospective study. Data on the sociodemographic, clinical characteristics and SARS-CoV-2 results of participants at a modified drive-through centre for COVID-19 test sample collection over four months were retrieved from the electronic medical records (EMR). Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. Results. A total of 307 children (≤18 years) were evaluated in this review. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the paediatric population was 16.3%. The median age (interquartile range (IQR)) was 9 (4–14) years. Common symptoms reported by the positive cases were fever (40.0%), cough (32.9%), sore throat (17.1%), and runny nose (15.7%). The majority of the positive cases had mild symptoms. Fever and sore throat were associated with the positive cases. Conclusion. Fever and sore throat were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among our cohort which buttresses the need for a high level of suspicion and clinical acumen in the management of common febrile diseases in paediatric settings.